The present invention relates generally to apparatus and method for landscaping preparations and particularly to an apparatus and method for preparing a site for landscaping by moving dirt and leveling the ground as desired.
At times during the preparation of a site for final landscaping substantial reworking of the soil is necessary. This reworking of the soil can involve smoothing and/or leveling of the ground surface before the desired plantings and other landscaping features can be added. Where precision is not required, often a blade or bucket attached to and pushed by a skid-steer loader, tractor or other motive power source is used to move the dirt around as desired. Subsequently, it is typically necessary to change attachments and mount a leveling bar to the motive power source to level the ground to the preferred specifications. Landscapers are therefore typically required to purchase two separate attachments and devote precious time and labor to changing attachments from bucket or blade to leveling bar and back, resulting in lost time, increased labor costs, and, perhaps most importantly, additional obstacles to a rapid completion of a landscaping task.
It would be desirable to have an apparatus both for the selective removal of dirt and foliage to a desired depth and for the subsequent leveling of the terrain.
It is an object of the present invention to provide new and useful apparatus that is not subject to the previously mentioned disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a landscaping attachment for attachment to a motive power source that can be used to remove dirt from a site and to level the terrain afterward in a preferred manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for preparing a site for final landscaping tasks by providing for the selective removal of soil and subsequent leveling of the ground surface to the desired contours.
The foregoing objects of the present invention and others that will become apparent to those skilled in the art are provided by a bucket level mountable to a motive power source such as a skid steer loader, tractor, or the like. A bucket level in accord with the present invention may have a frame substantially configured as a bucket with a floor, side walls, and a rear wall. The bucket floor will comprise front, middle, and rear sections, with the front and rear sections being fixedly attached to the side walls and the middle section being movable relative to the side walls to raise it above the front and rear sections. The front and rear sections may have blade edges on both their forward and back edges to aid in cutting into the ground and leveling when the bucket level is used as a leveling bar.
The rear wall will include upper and lower sections with the lower section taking the general form of a pivotable door or gate that opens when the middle floor section is raised. This opening of the door creates a flow-through in both forward and rear directions during operation. When the middle floor section is raised, then, the rear gate opens to allow the bucket level to be pushed or pulled by the power source along the ground, enabling the blade edges of the front and rear sections to level the ground and enabling material to flow through the rear gate in a controlled volume. When the middle section is in its operational or lowered position, the rear gate will be closed and the bucket level can be used as a traditional bucket. An appropriate linkage operates to open the gate as the middle floor section is raised and to close the rear gate as the middle section is lowered.
In a method in accord with the present invention there is provided a landscaping apparatus that is selectively configurable to adopt the configuration of a bucket or a leveling bar. An apparatus useful in a method in accord with the present invention may have a bucket and a leveling bar apparatus formed by selective displacement of a portion of the bucket floor. The apparatus is mounted to an appropriate power source and topsoil and other materials are removed using the bucket to a desired depth. The movable portion of the bucket floor is moved to form the leveling bar apparatus and the landscaping apparatus is moved over the ground to smooth and contour it as desired.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of an embodiment of the present invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art when the following drawings are considered in conjunction with the accompanying text description.